I come in seek of some advice...(I've also posted this at http://www.iis-resources.com)

For the last year I've run our Intranet from one city in the UK which services just 8 users in the same office and runs on IIS6 and Windows Server 2003 on an internal network with a single domain. It's been a great success.

My department has recently (two weeks ago) merged with another department who are physically located in London. The network admins are hoping to create some kind of secure connection - probably a VPN - not sure yet - that's their job, so that we can share resources! One of those resources is our Intranet site that we all want to use.

It will be my job to make our XOOPS Intranet avaibale to both offices. I'm terrified - I've never done anything like that before. The worry is that the data we share is VERY private relating to our work in Law Enforcement so it must not be compromised due to negligence.

With regard to security :

What do I need to know beforehand? Obviously, I'll make our MySQL server more secure by use of superusers with long and varied passwords, as well as using their latest version (already installed in fact). I'll update PHP to 4.1.10 and I'll install the Protector module by GIJOE and always keep XOOPS up-to-date. Would it be worth using the SSL options of Xoops? Would it be worth setting up a DMZ for the web site itself to reside in? If so, how do I do that? What else do I need to worry about? Is it fair to say that as long as the network admins make the connection secure my troubles are 50% cut? And would the recommendations above cover most of the remaining 50%? Other issues to consider?

With regard to the merger :

Is this an easy task? I've got to go from making and running one internal Intranet site with no external connections running on an internal network....to making it available to two seperate offices, externally. How on earth do I got about doing that?

I aint a pro web hoster and took on this role due to my interest in it. It's been an amazing learning curve, but now it's got to be made open to an outside world it's suddenly got a whole lot more serious! So any tips and advice on the issue of security, or the job of making it available to two offices, greatly received. I appreciate there are many questions here, so just point me in the direction of any useful guides etc if it's easier.

Thanks a lot, as always

Ted

If your network admins create a VPN you should be adequately protected. The VPN basically creates a secure, encrypted session between the two sites that would not allow any other networks or computers to connect to it, thus making SSL redundant. Depending on the way your admins configure the VPN it should not be necessary to create a DMZ although that would definitely be a workable solution.

If you were to have to do it over the internet then SSL would be a must. You could also use rules on a firewall to only allow connections from the other site, although I'd have to say that if you were going through that much trouble then you might as well setup a VPN. One point to consider with SSL is while it does encrypt the user session you are still only a password away from being compromised so you would have to maintain complex passwords to help limit your exposure.

The position you're in is not unlike many people here. You learn the most when you have to do something that gives you that sinkin feeling in your gut and you get the cold sweats. Sort of like when a mission critical server wont boot and you've been telling your boss over the last few months how wonderful your backups are and the only thing between you and the unemployment line is a succesful backup job from the night before....

It seems like you are on the right track and I would really push the network admins to do the right thing and setup a VPN. Stay involved in it and by the sounds of things the next time you'll know how to do it yourself.

Good of you to take the time to put my mind at rest, to some degree! I had hoped that the VPN solution would probably make things aokay but wanted to check.

Any other useful tips or words of wisdom from the experienced and wise would be gratefully received.

To my understanding, SSL is also not making it (much) more secure for the server but is mainly for the user to know that the website is what it is saying it is.

Of course, the encryption in SSL makes it more difficult for others to sniff passwords etc. by hijacking the traffic to and from the server, but if there is a hole somewhere, SSL will not make it more difficult for a malicious visitor to exploit it.

(I'm not getting too technical here, so please don't take everything as 100% guru words - as always when generalising, precision suffers)